AN: So...I know I've been gone too long, but! BUT! I'm baaaack! Yes, I've been briefly active on the DC archive, but writing has taken a while! Sorry! I'll try and be faster! For now, here's a chapter to tide you guys over!

Thanks a lot, all my faithful readers!

Rockster - Your patience has been severely tested [bows], but your review really opened my eyes and will inspire me to write faster henceforth! Thank you for still being interested and it was not rude nor was I offended at all! Your review was a wake-up call and I think I needed that!

Disconsolate Mist - Your constant urgings have been noted too and thanks for still trying to keep in touch while I was MIA!

I love you guys! Seriously! All my readers - THANKS!

.

"Dialogues"

'Thoughts'

.

Note: Once more, check out the GLOSSARY at the end of the chapter!

Enjoy~

Chapter 2

Earth Year: 1940, A.D. Theone Year: Uncountable, Limitless

…

Akako studied her crystal ball carefully, frowning in distaste. The Magick user; from Galaxy Twelve, planet Lene, current member of the Department of Occult; was very good at scrying the future and had been chosen to find out an appropriate time to send in their agents.

"It's difficult to find a suitable time period currently," Akako said, addressing the small group that had gathered in her office.

Shiloh, Kolos, Kaito, Shinichi, Latifah and Hala sat in the small room as Akako peered into her scrying crystal.

"The only time I can find," Akako continued, "to send Kaito and Shinichi to Earth is 40 years from now in Earth time."

"Why so?" Shiloh asked curiously.

"For one," Akako said, "You need stillborn children to replace them with. For two, those children's parents must have some physical resemblance to Kaito and Shinichi."

"And there are no such children born currently?" Kolos questioned his junior.

"No," Akako shook her head, "From what I saw, in the Earth year 1980, Kudo Yukiko's male child will be stillborn, as will Kuroba Chikage's. The fathers, Kudo Yusaku and Kuroba Toichi, also look somewhat similar to Shinichi and Kaito to be able to pass off as parent and child. But, there's no other opportunity before that."

Kaito shrugged, "Oh well, if it's after 40 years, it's after 40 years. Can't do much about that. Theone won't be reaching Earth till at least 100 years. That organisation won't be able to make contact with us till then, and that is only if they find that jewel of theirs. "

"You'll have even less time than that," Latifah denied Kaito's assumption, "Remember, your bodies are frozen at a physical age of twenty. After you grow to twenty, you won't age anymore and will cause suspicion among Earth dwellers."

"That's right," Shinichi mused, "So we have about twenty or twenty five years, give or take. Twenty can be passed off as twenty-five to a certain extent,"

"Actually," Latifah said, "even less. Since your memories will be supressed till at least your 'teen' years, you will only have ten years, give or take, to bring down the organisation."

"Anyway," Akako interrupted before they could begin that thread of discussion, "Apart from the forty year difference, we can't send the both you of at the same time either."

"Why not?" Kaito asked.

"The Kudo child is due in May," Akako answered, "while the Kuroba child will be born in June."

"So we'll have to first send in Shinichi," Shiloh frowned thoughtfully, "then Kaito."

"Yes, Shinichi looks enough like the Kudo's to pass off as their child," Akako nodded, "while Kaito will have to be sent in a month later as the Kuroba's son."

"That's fine, I guess," Kaito mused, "So…who is going to be supressing our memories and how?"

"I'll be doing it," Latifah answered, "I'll basically be de-aging your mind and body. So, when you regain your memories, you will have two different set of childhood experiences. It won't be very pleasant, I guess, the sudden return of your memories."

"So," Shinichi realised, "you're going to make our brains age faster than our bodies, thus when our brain is technically twenty years old, it will have all the memories we do now."

"Will that even work?" Kaito asked, confused, "we may be physically twenty, but in actuality, we've lived for millennia!"

"Yes," Latifah agreed, "but your brain is still frozen at twenty. All that you've experienced after turning immortal is considered as your life experiences as a twenty year old to your brain."

"Hmm, you're right," Shinichi agreed, "And since we're immortal, we also never seem to forget anything, our brains being a limitless storage of information. So, our new experiences on Earth shouldn't be too disconcerting either."

"Yeah," Latifah grinned, "No need to worry about forgetting anything important by mistake, whether you learnt it as an immortal or while living on Earth."

Earth Year: 1980, A.D. Theone Year: Uncountable, Limitless

…

Seated inside a spaceship, Shinichi, Kaito, Latifah and Kolos were headed to Earth. Earth's council – a special board of members who knew of PANDORA's existence and their purpose – had already readied a clearing for their arrival. The ambassador had explained that the problem that had arisen; Sharon's betrayal and an organisation's bid for immortality; was now Theone's problem and shall be solved by them. For which, Shinichi and Kaito, two of their members would be sent to Earth to grow up as humans. And for safety and anonymity's sake, their identities would be kept under wraps.

Earth's council had not been very ready to accept Theone's judgement and control over a situation that was equally Earth's responsibility, but they had to concede to the fact that Theone was the most powerful planet out there and best equipped to deal with one of their own members. Plus, the organisation was too well hidden and had expertly evaded capture since years. So, in the end, they had to concede and let Theone do things their way.

"So, am I going to get my memories back as the years go by or all at once?"

Shinichi's question was met with a shake of Kolos's head.

"All at once," the Head of Occult said, "If you start regaining your memories before that, you might grow confused. And we've no intention of seeing you locked up in an asylum or worse, killed –"

Latifah shuddered, remembering Project Kwantina, and the disastrous ending.

"– if you start spouting stuff you had learnt as a child the first time around. Or speak in Elisin's native language, by mistake."

Kaito frowned, "How's that going to work? I can understand Latifah de-aging our minds along with our body but making our minds age faster – she's a shifter and basically control a body's growth. But how can you make it so that we regain our memories at one go?"

"Simple," Kolos smiled, "I'll place a lock on your memories just before Latifah de-ages you."

Kaito and Shinichi's eyes widened in understanding.

"I see," Latifah said, "even I was wondering about that."

"So basically, you're going to turn our twenty-year old minds into a blank sheet," Shinichi expounded, "So, when Latifah de-ages us, we grow up naturally. And when our mind turns twenty, the memories you've locked will return back to us."

"Exactly," Kolos nodded, "I'll be placing a month long memory suspension on the both of you. So, exactly one month after your mind turns twenty, my spell will lose its hold. The memories may come in a rush, so you best be careful."

The rest of the journey to Earth passed in silence.

Shinichi and Kaito had never been 'friends', merely cordial with each other, owing to a misunderstanding and then spurned friendship at their very first meeting. They'd forgiven each other enough to collaborate with the other and be civil, once they had gained the position of Head of Departments and had to work closely as part of the main council, but they'd never bothered to be more. Their somewhat alliance and understanding was enough for them and nothing more was needed.

Latifah and Kolos, while on good terms with everyone, decided to rest a while, leaving the spaceship in complete silence. Their roles in this mission were a bit more than simply using their powers – they would also be in charge of making sure for the first few months that no suspicion arose for the de-aged immortals – and they'd begun preparing themselves for it.

Having never visited Earth, Latifah had no knowledge regarding its language and tried memorising bits and pieces of it. Kolos, who would have even less interaction with humans than Latifah, had simply decided to let the language translator – a highly complex device created by the PANDORA to make intergalactic relations peaceful – do its job and not bothered learning English or Japanese at all. Shinichi poured over an old text for leisure while Kaito made tiny sparkling lights appear from the tips of his fingers.

The craft, manned by two members of the Military Department, was due to reach Earth in two weeks' time (Earth time. Or currently, 72 hours for Theone time; but that kept changing after all and was thus never reliable). Ensconced in their rooms for most of the part, the four members of the council only met during meal times or if they had to discuss anything further regarding the mission.

All in all, it was peaceful.

Earth Year: 1980, A.D. Theone Year: Uncountable, Limitless

…

No planet ever had ambassadors of theirs sent to Theone. It was only Theone's ambassadors who were sent to each and every planet, to make contact and keep them informed of all that went on in the various galaxies. After all, the moment a mortal stepped onto Theone, they ceased being a mortal and thus were a part of Theone; so naturally, they couldn't send any ambassadors to the immortal planet. Most ambassadors were typically a prior dweller for that planet to make transition and communication smooth.

So, after the spaceship landed (cloaked under heavy concealment spells so as to evade the notice of any satellites and other contraptions set up by Earth), the 'Earth' ambassador walked forward to welcome them.

"Hello," Ken smiled, "It's been long since we met, Kolos! And it's nice to see you again, Shinichi."

Ken and Kolos were long-time friends, even though Kolos hailed from Galaxy Seven, Planet Phedra and Ken from Galaxy Fourteen, Planet Earth. Soon after Ken (formerly Ken Wilkins, but living for millennia made surnames redundant) had been turned immortal, he'd joined the Department of Occult and gotten to know Kolos – they'd immediately clicked. And while Kolos went on to become Head of Department, Ken had transferred to Department of Intelligence and become Earth's ambassador.

Ken had also been the one who'd helped Shinichi conduct his investigation on Earth, translating the various human languages into Theone's native language to make his work easier. Walking around with a large and distinct language translator would have brought Shinichi unnecessary attention when he hd been trying to maintain a low profile.

"Come, I'll introduce you the head of Earth's council," Ken said as he led them towards a small observatory that had been set up to manage the spaceship or provide base for fixing the craft's machinery if needed, "She's agreed to let PANDORA handle this issue in our own way, but has mentioned that a few government organisations are already on their trail."

"That's perfectly fine," Shinichi said, "the two of us cannot do everything by ourselves, so having government aid will be useful once we've established our cover on Earth."

Kaito nodded along in agreement and Ken grinned at them, "Excellent."

…

Kaito was fascinated.

This was his first time visiting Earth, never having the need to do so before, and he'd already fallen in love with the nature here. As they walked through the clearing and through the fields to the observatory, his eyes roamed about, taking in the lush green flora of Earth.

He could feel his magic thrumming in his veins – Earth, despite having produced no magical beings, certainly seemed to be a good medium for Magick. The very air seemed to be filled with it. While Earth's magical saturation was nowhere near the levels found on Lene, it certainly was quite a lot. Perhaps that was one reason Lene dwellers looked so alike to Earth's dwellers? Hmm…something to ponder upon.

And it had only been minutes since they'd landed on Earth, but Kaito could feel the changes taking place in his body already – his skin seemed to soften just a touch, his blood (Blood? Yes, blood) seemed to thin, his pulse rate quickening. His nail beds lost the pale and silvery hue, instead turning a light peach. Kaito was sure his blood had changed from Theone's silvery fluid to Earth's red colouration (Probably, it was a guess by looking at his now pink-ish palms). The gravity seemed to be more forceful too.

Yes, Earth was definitely fascinating.

They walked into the observatory and past a few winding hallways to finally reach a large conference room. Ken began addressing the council in Earth's language, which Kaito could barely follow, the accent sounding strange to him. Then he turned towards them.

"These are the members of Earth's council," Ken indicated to the woman standing at the centre, "and this is Ms Narcissa Muller, the Head of the council."

And thus it went. Switching back and forth from Theone's native language to Earth's, Ken kept the conversation flowing after the introductions were done with. It was an informative (not really) two hours later that Kaito found himself in a hotel room, courtesy of Earth's council, lying down on beds made of a soft material.

"Well, today was certainly interesting," Kaito mumbled into the bedspread.

Tomorrow, the 28th of April, they would be departing for Japan via an Earth spaceship that flew just below the atmosphere – they called it an airplane? Aeroplane? Earth's language was so varied! – and Kaito felt a tiny tendril of apprehension and thrill. He certainly loved the element of surprise and danger.

Pulling out a small crystal ball, he gave it a shake, waiting for the mist inside to clear.

"Kaito." Akako's face swam into view, "I see you've reached."

"Hey, Akako," Kaito grinned, "Yeah, Earth's great. You'd be surprised by the amount of Magick at this place!"

Akako's eyes widened slightly at that before returning to her usual haughty, know-it-all expression, "Is that so? In all my scryings, I've not yet seen a Magick using Earth dweller."

"Perhaps they don't," Kaito shrugged, "Anyway, this is not what I called you for. Do you remember my request?"

"Yes." Akako nodded, "I'll keep a look out for the future. Yes, for both of yours," she added when at Kaito's questioning eyebrows raised for confirmation, "Aww, how sweet! Kaito does care for Shinichi!"

"Shut up!" Kaito scowled, "I don't care for that stuck up idiot. He's irritating and – and we don't see eye to eye and –"

"Please," Akako rolled her eyes drolly, "How immature can you get? 'He's irritating?' 'Don't see eye to eye?' I really wonder how long you're going continue this half-friendship, half-rivalry. The both of you make an odd pair, really."

"Then why take such an interest in it?" Kaito muttered.

"It's free entertainment!" Akako cackled, "Did you know? Zakiya always has quite a bunch of slurs lined up to throw at Shinichi and you for the monthly council meet! And she keeps regaling me with tales of the meeting – how the both of you defend each other's views against her before going back to pretend the other doesn't exist and criticising the other's plans. She was a bit sad the both of you are leaving, complaining how she'll be losing two of her favourite targets."

"I can see why the two of you are such good friends." Kaito sighed, "Besides; we went off on a tangent. You'll keep an eye out, yes?"

"Yes." Akako agreed with a grin, mirth dancing in her eyes still, "I'll keep a look out. If anything goes wrong or if you need any help, I'll make my way to Earth."

"Earth dwellers have a lot of complicated languages –"

"Kaito," Akako interrupted, "I scry multiple planets and have been doing so for Earth since the past forty years because of this mission. I'm sure I know Earth's language much better than you by now."

"Yeah, of course," Kaito nodded in understanding, "Just…keep a look out. Even though I did suggest this plan, Project Kwantina still haunts me a bit."

"You're going to have your memories blocked," Akako pointed out in a vaguely comforting manner, "Plus, it was Shinichi's idea, wasn't it? If he's sure that blocking your memories will do the trick, then, well…unless you don't trust his theory?"

"No," Kaito admitted, "Shinichi's theory does seem solid. And he is trustworthy, no matter how annoying he is…"

Akako sighed, "Okay. I'm done coddling you. You're a twenty year old immortal, and you've fought in the last Great War of Galaxies, you can do this."

"Twenty year old immortal who's gonna be shrunk into a new born baby soon. With no knowledge of Magick and defenceless," Kaito pointed out sullenly, "Certainly not a war veteran."

"And you're not even going to remember these insecurities after you de-age. And when you get your memories back, this fear will be redundant," Akako replied, "As I said, I'm done coddling you. Now that we've confirmed my part in the plan, farewell."

With that, the crystal ball turned murky again, leaving Kaito back in his lonesome company. The Magick user sighed as he slumped back into the pillows, making a note to tell the others that he'd made contact with Akako and verified the plan with her.

Earth Year: 1980, A.D. Theone Year: Uncountable, Limitless

…

Latifah, hailing from planet Uraeus, Galaxy Eleven, was as different from Earth's humans as could possibly be. Her skin tone was originally a pale yellow though it had evened out to a light pinkish hue upon descending on Earth two days ago. Her hair, a vibrant red, was thankfully not very unusual if uncommon. But her eyes were small horizontal slits, the sclera and iris both light blue in colour that just refused to adjust accordingly to Earth.

Kaito dabbed a bit more make-up on her face and adjusted her false ears – they were a bit too pointy and had to be smoothened out with fake skin –

("They call it latex on Earth, Latifah! Latex! Isn't that such a cool word?" Kaito had grinned as he gave up on glue and used magic to attach the 'latex' to her ears.

"You're just reminding us why we must erase our memories," Shinichi deadpanned, "Your unbounded curiosity would have given us out immediately."

"Ha!" Kaito snorted, "We both know that in terms of curiosity, you have me beat – the only thing you have me beat in, by the way –"

"– And arrogance." Latifah pitched in with a grin.

"Oh no," Kolos refuted, amused, "that one goes to Kaito, for sure –"

"– anyway!" Kaito glared, "But since Shinichi can simply read the humans' minds to sate his curiosity, we poor immortals have to go about doing it the natural way – exploring and inquiring!"

"And annoying the hell out of locals."

"Hey, at least my Japanese has improved somewhat –"

"After you almost insulted four shopkeepers and got us kicked out of one restaurant because you messed up a few words –"

"At least I'm making the effort to learn it, unlike you who goes around wearing those monstrous headphones and detachable speaker –"

"I didn't design the intergalactic language translator to be so bulky and attention grabbing, did I –"

"– Looking like a loon –"

"– Ha! That's rich, coming from you –"

Latifah and Kolos had simply sighed then, far too used to Shinichi and Kaito's bickering to pay it anymore attention)

"So, do I look like an appropriate Nurturer? Or, what do they call it – midwife?"

"It's called 'doctor' in Earth terms," Shinichi pointed out the correct term, giving Latifah a once over, "And yes, you seem presentable, if a bit foreign, in a country with black-haired brown-eyed people."

"Which brings me to this," Kaito pointed out, "I can't do anything about your eyes, so I'll simply have to camouflage them with my magic."

"That's fine," Latifah answered, "In fact, you could have done the same with my ears too, couldn't you?"

Kaito shook his head, "Our bodies are already adjusting to Earth and unfortunately that means we've become part of the equilibrium system here."

Shinichi nodded in agreement, "It's why I said I couldn't read everyone's mind and tell you who is a part of the organisation. Kaito may have noticed this by reading the magic levels – or at least that's what I assume – but our abilities are not as easily accessed as they were on our native planet or on Theone."

"You have me slightly confused," Latifah confessed.

Having never left Theone for any reason after being turned immortal, she'd never learnt how different planets could affect their abilities. Even for Project Kwantina, Latifah had de-aged the agents on Theone before they had been sent to Kwantina.

"Ken would do a better job explaining," Kolos said, "but I'll try. Take my power into account – memory manipulation. I can basically confound anyone I want, as long as I focus on them. It is naturally tougher with strong willed individuals, but I can do it with little effort on my part. Were I on my home planet, Phedra, it would have been even more easier!"

Planet Phedra's inhabitants were highly developed intellectuals who were rumoured to have the best military forces after Theone. Quite a bit of their advanced brain power could also be used to manipulate objects. Telekinesis was one of the most common powers among them, but a few would always differ – telepathy, hypnotism, memory manipulation, empathy, pyrokinesis, hydrokinesis, clairvoyance, projection of mental shields in the physical world, etc.

"For me," Kaito continued, "my magic stays in harmony with the planet's. With the relatively low magical levels on Earth compared to Lene or Theone, I can't do continuous or long-term magic for greater durations. It's like the equilibrium must be maintained." Kaito frowned, trying to be more articulate, "For example, currently, my body harnesses a lot of magic for a normal Lene dweller. But, since the magic levels on Earth are lower, a kind of osmosis takes place – my magic doesn't hold on for as long as it usually can, dissipating into the Earth."

"You mean," Latifah mused, "All our powers are somewhat dulled?"

"In a way," Shinichi agreed, "but not all, of course. Mind reading is usually very easy for me, but trying to peek into human minds take more effort than normal for some reason. But for Kolos, his power should have little to no problem. Perhaps, it might be even easier."

"It is, actually," Kolos said, "Much easier than what it used to be back on Phedra. How do you think I convinced the receptionist down there to give four non-Earth dwellers a hotel room?"

"She has no recollection of our faces, does she? So, depending on each being," Latifah concluded, "it differs, right? Quite randomly? What about my shifting abilities?"

"I guess they should pose no problem at all," Kaito assured her, "You're shifting your own body, a physical thing. De-aging us should be no different. When you de-age me, however, my magic may have some random outbursts to make sure I give off enough magic to the Earth. I hope my younger self will be careful enough about it though."

Shinichi nodded thoughtfully, "It's the same with me. My natural abilities to read a person's mind was very uncontrolled when I was younger –"

"And even after turning immortal," Kaito muttered, earning a slight glare from his near-twin.

"– and while reading the minds of humans is more difficult, it is bound to happen sometime," Shinichi sighed, "Speaking of mishaps, how long will the both of you be staying after making sure of Kaito's… 'delivery'?"

Kolos hummed, "A few months was what had been decided, but we'll see. Akako will be keeping a watch, anyway and Ken will also keep an eye."

"Hopefully Sharon won't find about the two of you," Latifah worried, "If she's joined the organisation and helping them look for immortality, I wonder how far she'll go…"

Mood soured, Shinichi turned away from them. Kolos only shook his head ruefully.

"Akako has seen nothing till now about Sharon," Kaito glared at the female for bringing up the topic, "As far as we know, she has nothing to do with the Kudo's or Kuroba's. I'm sure it will go fine."

The door-bell of the hotel room rang then, thankfully shifting their attention. Kolos opened it to reveal Ken who held a huge stack of folders in his arms.

"Hello!" Ken grinned, "I see you've settled in well, Japan has great climate, doesn't it?"

"What's all those papers for?" Kaito asked incredulously.

"Documents for Latifah," Ken stated as he put the folders down on a table. At their confused looks, he elaborated, "Even if she's going to be a doctor for a couple of months, she still needs authentic papers, you know?"

"Won't Kolos be taking care of that, though?" Latifah questioned.

"He'll be manipulating your co-workers memories to make sure they remember you and not ask questions," Ken said, "But, it still has to be on record that a doctor called Latifah worked in the clinic and delivered two babies. The Kudo's and Kuroba's must remember who delivered their child, or it will be a huge mess."

"Can't deny the logic behind that," Shinichi murmured.

"Good!" Ken clapped his hands, "Now, Kolos, Latifah, come with me. We need to go get you established in the clinic – Mitsuba Clinic, right?"

"That's where Akako saw the Kudo's going," Kaito agreed, "And Hanashobu Clinic in Ekoda for the Kuroba's."

"Right, right," Ken exhaled, "Let's get going then. Kolos, old chap, you're going to be busy making sure each and every staff member knows Doctor Latifah. Let's get cracking!"

Adjusting her hair and fake glasses – Kaito had camouflaged her eyes to be white with blue irises in the end, but glasses were just an extra prop – the red haired girl shifted into a woman in her mid-thirties. Her previously loose dress now fit her well and she took off the towel that had been draped around her shoulders during the make-up session. Slipping on an over coat, she twirled a bit to show off.

"Old enough for a reputed doctor?"

"Enough to be a certified gynaecologist," Ken agreed.

Kaito gave a small whistle and winked while Shinichi smirked and gave her a thumbs-up. Latifah preened slightly under their appreciative gaze before moving out with Ken. Kolos picked up a huge head phone with an attached mic – the translator – and followed after.

"Don't blow up the room in one of your disagreements, okay?" Latifah called out as she shut the door.

"Why do they always have to bring that up?" Kaito positively whined.

"She doesn't trust you," Shinichi retorted, slumping down into a sofa.

"Trust us, you mean," Kaito scowled, "Or trust you to leave things alone."

"I don't remember escalating any of our arguments, that's always been you –"

"Ha! Like you can talk, whose idea was it to repaint the meeting room green –"

"Last I checked, you're the Magick user in the room –"

"And you were the one with the matter dispeller –"

"That was a prototype invention! How should I have known it would fail –"

"Maybe because it was a prototype? And why should you have even thought of using it –"

"You don't have much room to say anything, considering you're the one that cast the spell –"

"Oho, so we're playing the blame game, are we? Need I remind you of the Rakett Case –"

"An investigation that would have gone infinitely better in your absence –"

AN: ALL reviews will be replied to, so be free in asking questions or even ranting about my late updates! Seriously.

Also, please let me know how this chp turned out, yeah?

.

To Enoshima Junko - Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it!

To Rockster - Thanks for the review! You're right! The science-nerd living inside my head just refuses to let go off me without typing down random facts :P Also, about checking Pandora gem under the sun - it actually IS possible, but no one on Earth knew about that, thus the 'under moonlight' thing... Future canon events may or may not take place - cannot reveal too much now :P - you'll have to read further! ;)

Also, there are literall so may ways to write "Kaito", but for the particular kanji and translation I used and thus for this story, those shall be the meanings :) As for your other questions, I hope they're answered now :) And thanks so much for being so patient, hopefully yo don't have to be so much any more!

.

GLOSSARY:

Planets - Theone: God's gift

Elisin: Noble

Lene: Illustrious

Kwantina: Joyful

Uraeus: Old-fashioned

Phedra: Bright

People - Akako - Red child

Ken: Dignified

Kaito: To soar the ocean

Shinichi: One truth

Kolos: Scholar

Narcissa: Daffodil

Zakiya: Intelligent

Other words - Mitsuba Clinic: Three leaves clinic

Hanashobu Clinic: Iris clinic [Iris is a japanese flower, purple coloured]

Rakett Case - Missile case

.

REVIEW!